“We’re not unchurched, we’re done churched.” Neil Carter, from his blog Godless in Dixie.
According to the General Social Survey (GSS), the number of Americans choosing not to affiliate with a specific religion is growing rapidly larger. Since 2012, the number has risen by 7.5 million people.
Does this mean that the number of atheists or agnostics is growing that rapidly? No, not so fast. There are a large number of still-religious people who don’t go to church or feel like organized religion fills their spiritual needs. So, among the Nones, there are religious people and even people who designate themselves as “spiritual but not religious.”
And then there are The Dones. Neil Carter has been there, done that and has a bunch of the t-shirts of a churchy background, but now he is an atheist. He blogs at Patheos, and has written of the Dones as a subset of the Nones.
Related Links:
- “The Nones vs The Dones” by Neil Carter Godless in Dixie
- “7.5 Million Americans Have Lost Their Faith Since 2012” Huffington Post
- “Atheists: In Godlessness We Trust” by Mo Rocca CBS Sunday Morning (featuring Neil Carter)
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